What is considered a fast/avg 100 yard swim? (Page 2)

Race results can be deceiving. Some races have you run 1/4 mile to get to the T1 mat and others have the mat right at the swim exit. That can add a lot to a swim time. I would say in triathletes, a 1:20/100m or better pace over 1500 m is a great pace that will place you in the top 5% in most races.

If you look at some OWS results of competitive swimmers that time gets closer to 1:05/100m.  No advantages to men or women in triathlons. I have been humbled my many women when I thought I was coming out of the water 1st.

thx, I'll try it tonight.

I raced in the 40-44 year old age group last year and here were my times in three of my races

1000yd. swim 1:20 per 100 yds. 3rd out of 26.

800 yd. swim 1:39 per 100 yds. 5th out of 52.

800 yd. swim 1:26 per 100 yds. 19th out of 59.

When I train and want to do 100s on a time I usually shoot for 1:30-1:40. Nothing in the pool can prepare you for all of the different factors that can influence your open water swim. Don't get to hung up on swim times unless they start creeping higher.

Don't get me wrong I wish I could and my form is not good but that is still fast.

As far as your logs it is really irrelevant what you show them in.  I have mine in yards as it was easier when I swam in yd pools now i swim in a meter pool but I did not change my logs as I have my yearly goal in yards and I don't feel like converting my training plans.  All that matter is how you do in your races.

May be a great goal, but one only 5 - 10% of the fields out there will see.

A sub-3 marathon is a great and achievable goal .......... but only 2% of those in the marathon fields ever see it.

Keep in mind this is for triathletes in Open Water...and a boat with an outboard motor!!! I don't think 1:12 is a resonable 100meter goal at all.

This may be obvious at this point but:

• A "Good" time is all pretty relative.
• Conditions do affect the times. Heck I REALLY question that the distances are exact in races; not like you can pace it off.
• You never know who is fast and who is not - age/sex don't seem to matter.

Even as a HS swimmer, I just don't see myself getting into the top 15%.  I hover around top 25% but the open water part messes with me.

The OP was only referring to a 500 yd pool swim and not an OWS. While I agree with him about triathletes not focusing on swim enough, a 6:00 500 is a bit out of reach for a lot of former swimmers that have turned triathletes. If you look at some masters meet results you don't find many times below 6:00 for the 500.

As far as OWS, times are all over the place depending on conditions, timing mat placement and how the course was measured. For example, at my 1/2 IM last year my swim time was around 32:00 and came out in the top 2%. This was calculated as a 1:29 pace, that's slower than my breaststroke pace in a pool.

Swimming masters in the off season is a great way to improve your swimming in the "off season" while giving your body a nice break from the pounding it takes during the tri season. During the chat with Hillary Biscay she mentioned that she could not maintain her swim fitness swimming less that 3 days per week! (And she was a NCAA Div 1 swimmer!) I look at a lot of logs here on BT and see that swimming is put pretty low on the priority list as far as workouts go. 30 minutes of swimming does not count as a swim workout in my book.  

Actually, I think she said she couldn't maintain her swim fitness on less than four days per week.

Bob, as always with swimming (and all other things tri!), you're spot-on. I also think triathletes underestimate the aerobic benefit from swimming--you simply can't put hours on the bike and especially on the run like you can in a pool. Yes, the swim "barely" counts in a tri, but what it does for your aerobic fitness counts far beyond the water.

Not sure what you base this on. Your own logs show you spend twice as much time cycling as you do swimming...